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In the Autumn Term of 2016, Fulwell Junior School began a journey towards gaining UNICEF accreditation as a Rights Respecting School. The Rights Respecting Schools accreditation was borne out of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are four underpinning principles:-
- Non-discrimination ~ Treat everyone fairly and with respect;
- Right to life, survival & development ~ Children and youth have a right to the basic things to live, survive & develop;
- Best interests of children & youth ~ Always ask yourself 'is the decision I'm making good for kids?'
- Respect the views of children & youth ~ Children & youth need to participate and have their views considered when decisions are being made that affect them.
UNICEF is the world's leading organisation working with children and their rights. It was founded by the United Nations in 1946 in a response to the post war devastation in Europe. In 1953 the UN children's fund was made permanent and it now leads the way in global citizenship for children.
What makes 'rights' different?
- Rights are based on entitlement
- They are enshrined in international law
- They require participation and engagement
Rights have involvement - Needs don't! It is important young people have a voice. A Rights Respecting School will acknowledge this.
Our Journey so Far.....
We have already acheived our Recognition of Commitment level by setting up a Steering Group, carrying out an audit and producing an action plan. Rights Respecting will be embedded in all school practice - it will encourage children and staff to think about actions that operate in the best interest of the child - that is the top priority.
The next step of our accrediation takes place in January when we will be subject to an RR inspection, evaluating the impact of the agenda in school and how effectively we are progressing on the journey.
The Impact of RR In School:
We have really engaged the Right Respecting agenda in our support of other topics this school year. One of these such intitiatives was in support of Global Citizenship Day on 9th November. We held a non-uniform event to draw attention to the project, and how we will wotrk toward embedding this ethos in our day to day school practice as part of our broader Rights Respecting journey. The aim of Global Citizenship education is to empower learners to assume active roles to face and resolve global challenges and to become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and secure world. We enjoyed some great topic work - the children really engaged in the theme and from it we made our school charity choices! We are proud that the children of Fulwell Juniors have shown such enthusiasm in their bid to be truly global citizens.
What is a Global Citizen?
The Worlds' Largest Lesson :'You can't help everybody, but everybody can help someone'
PUPIL VOICE - MAKE SURE YOU USE IT!
PUPIL VOICE - MAKE SURE YOU USE IT!
The concept of 'Pupil Voice' is one that the children have really enjoyed putting in to practice! It has been the basis of a lot of their decision making this year, from things like voting for the House Captains, to choosing our nominated school charities. By giving our children this important forum for self expression, we meet the expectations of Rights Respecting Article 12 - The Right to be Heard.
Pupil voice matters to us - the choice is yours!
On 30th January, the school were subject to a Right Respecting assessment to see whether we had successfully completed the next phase of our journey. We were delighted to receive the SILVER AWARD accreditation.